coutorture --

Falke Hosiery, Functional Luxury

coutorture — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:28:13 -0700

You're not too old to put these on your holiday wish list. Nor are you too young to invest in some nice hosiery. So, no excuses! We pulled some Falke hosiery for our The Sun Doesn't Care photo shoot and, compared to the drug store pairs we ripped up and experimented with, they were silky pieces of art. Too beautiful to touch. We decided we'd never wear another pair of 'black mist' Duane Reade pantyhose again. We called them knock-offs, we threw them out. After all, we rationalized, if you're wearing reputable undergarments, it will show through your clothes. That is you'll feel better and walk with confidence knowing that just underneath those superficial layers is very expensive, very thin pieces of lace and silk. Oh la la.

What makes Falke extra-special, over the other luxury hosiery options, is that their specialty is sportswear. Borne in Germany, Falke has over one hundred years experience creating innovative garments that are functional rather than superfluous. Unfortunately the hosiery shots didn't make our edit, for reasons completely unrelated to their performance, but we just couldn't leave out the post. If an epiphany in undergarments occurs, 'aint no pictures necessary.

Shimmer, Shimmer, Cross, Re-Cross

coutorture — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:40:34 -0700

The pantyhose debate continues to rage in small town America and corporate human resources departments. But frankly the right to bare legs (or arms, or even sometimes, shudder, midriffs) hasn't really been a concern for fashion women. So when we started to weirdly crave shimmer nylons in the dead of summer we knew something was up. Our first inkling came as we read Tom Wolfe's eulogy of Clay Falker in the great man's own New York Magazine. Discussing a style piece on Madison Avenue art girls we found ourselves inspired.

They became known as the “art birds.” As late as 1989 Japanese art collectors liked to have these pretty little American girls by their sides in the front rows for the “important” auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. They loved the pretty things’ lithe young legs with their epidermi of sheerest ravage-me nylon shimmering up to the most tumescent swells of their thighs as they crossed and then re-crossed and then re-re-crossed and then re-re-re-crossed them shimmer shimmer shimmer shimmer beneath the downlighters.

Now the fact that we found ourselves inspired by sheer nylons in midsummer by a man who habitually wears suits, albeit white ones, in even the warmest weather seemed fitting. But then today network partner Catwalk Queen admitted that she was a hosiery hoarder. She begins in the context of pre-fall trends and uses fellow community members Kingdom of Style and Susie Bubble as evidence. But its when she admits to loving "the new breed of truly barely-there nudes" we knew we were not alone. We have a few plans in mind for showcasing just how sexy the "shimmer, shimmer, cross re-cross" can be even in the middle of a heatwave.

DIY Hosiery Part Three

coutorture — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:07:02 -0700

Joseph Font's haute couture collection helped us complete our trilogy of DIY hosiery ideas. The first we picked up from our Network Partner, Style Bubble, who cut carefully spaced holes into a pair of tights as she saw them in a shop window. A few days later we saw Network Partner, The Coveted, dip dyed her tights so that they resembled those seen in the Christian Lacroix haute couture runway show. And now we've come up with our own idea for runway-worth hosiery you can whip up at home--the Joseph Font way. Perhaps those printed tights you've stocked up on over the season's are sitting in a pile in one drawer or another and have yet to be realized as having DIY potential. After all, they've already so much going on. Well, whip out that glue gun and go to town. In Font's show, floral patterns were made couture by way of same-color stones. The result is intense eye candy, the kind that might just make passersby feel like they've taken hallucinogenic drugs. That's what fashion is for, right?! These tights are pretty wild but we're sure a couture-loving chicster or two will be up for the challenge. We can already imagine them worn with jean cut-offs and black Doc Martins. How nineties would that be?

A Feat In DIY From Style Bubble

coutorture — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:09:10 -0700

In fashion, stylists have more power than you might expect. In fact, aside from the designers, theirs is a second opportunity to realize trends. The way we see clothing in magazines, in the shop windows, on celebrities, is largely a product of their interpretations of the newest clothing. Though fashion editors and store owners and the people who employ stylists surely have a say in the matter, the stylists still hold the reigns in some regard. Especially when it comes to accessories and finishing touches. That said, our Network Partner, Style Bubble, was transfixed by styling in a Selfridges window and promptly went on a DIY adventure to replicate the idea. Style Bubble, a trend setter in her own right, studied a pair of hosiery that had been carefully torn by whomever was in charge of such a thing, and now, well, now we might just see it on more than a few chicsters. A recent post we wrote on sheer socks had us thinking about DIY hosiery a few weeks back. Perhaps because hosiery, as we've seen in the Fall 08 shows, makes such a big statement with a little bit of money, it can be said that the most stylish among us play around with the possibilities. Even if only for one outfit or one shop window, the simple task of altering those finishing touches might a massive trend make.

Look From London

coutorture — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:34:30 -0800

For today's shoot we picked up some Look From London tights to show that not all of the Fall 08 trends are idle until the season is upon us. Indeed, we've seen bright and printed tights making a steady climb towards a trend takeover so the look, as inexpensive as it is, is easy enough to jump on now. Look From London, despite their slightly misleading name, is a Brooklyn based company who has been in business for over twenty years. Their product appears everywhere from the biggest runway shows to the littlest boutiques. In fact, this Fall 08 Look From London supplied Anna Sui (those pictured in our Tasty shoot) and Narciso Rodriguez (oh, do we have a penchant for white tights) with their hosiery. The hosiery, is more or less dyed and made to order, as we discovered on our jaunt down the BQE to pick our pairs up. In a warehouse with the most amazing natural light ten women, when we arrived, were dying dandelion colored tights and hanging them on a line in the window. Sometimes the most simple fashion accessories come to mean a lot more when you consider their origin. Opaque, over the knee, vermillion, copper, tydye, it's all put together here in Brooklyn and all for less than twenty dollars a pair.

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